2023/24 Effectiveness Monitoring Committee Request for Research Proposals to test the California Forest Practice Rules and related regulations

Purpose

The Effectiveness Monitoring Committee is an advisory body to the Board of Forestry and Fire Protection, intended to fund robust scientific research aimed at testing the efficacy of the California Forest Practice Rules and other natural resource protection statutes, laws, codes, and associated regulations, which address natural resource issues including, but not limited to, watershed science, wildlife concerns, and wildfire hazard.

Description

The Effectiveness Monitoring Committee (EMC) is seeking project proposals that: (1) Address one or more of the EMC’s Research Themes and Critical Monitoring Questions and; (2) Address natural resource protection issues that are important for California forestlands. The critical monitoring questions are organized under 12 Research Themes. Six prioritized critical questions were determined by vote amongst the current EMC members at the beginning of each calendar year: Are the FPRs and associated regulations effective in... Question 1h: managing WLPZs to reduce or minimize potential fire behavior and rate of spread? Question 5a: maintaining and restoring the distribution and quality of foraging, rearing and spawning habitat for anadromous salmonids? Question 6d: managing forest structure and stocking standards to promote wildfire resilience? Question 6f: in mitigating or reducing the cumulative impacts of post-fire recovery and management actions in affected watersheds? Question 12a: improving overall forest wildfire resilience and the ability of forests to respond to climate change (e.g., in response to drought or bark beetle; reducing plant water stress) and variability, and extreme weather events (evaluate ecosystem functional response to fuel reduction and forest health treatments)? Question 12b: maintaining conifer and broadleaf stands which are well adapted to climate in order facilitate riparian functions (e.g., shade, temperatures, primary productivity, stream flow)? I. FUNDING AVAILABILITY. Funding available for newly proposed projects is as follows: $927,595 over three FYs (2023/24, 2024/25, and 2025/26), comprising $220,524 in FY 2023/24; $282,071 in FY 2024/25; and $425,000 in FY 2025/26. II. AWARD LIMITATIONS. Applicants requesting more than the stated annual amount available for funding will not be considered. In the case that EMC funding for the full three years is awarded to one new project, project solicitation may not occur in the subsequent two FYs. While the EMC may choose to fund projects that span multiple FYs up to the annual funding cap, the EMC generally prefers to fund multiple research projects annually. Proposers should keep this in mind when developing their project and annual budget requests. Longer-term projects (greater than three years) may re-apply for funding for additional years through the competitive grants process advertised in the EMC’s Request for Proposals. a. ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES. Eligible projects will test one or more specific FPRs or other rule/regulation under the Board’s jurisdiction and addresses one or more of the EMC’s Research Themes and Critical Monitoring Questions. Proposed projects must apply to activities on private timberlands in California. Projects on public land may be eligible provided they clearly apply to the activities and systems that also exist on non-federal timberland. b. ELIGIBLE ORGANIZATIONS. Eligible applicants are local, state, and federal agencies including federal land management agencies; institutions of higher education; special purpose districts; Native American tribes; private landowners; for-profit entities; and non-profit 501(c)(3) organizations.